MetaFilter posts tagged with courts and lawhttp://www.metafilter.com/tags/courts+law
Posts tagged with 'courts' and 'law' at MetaFilter.Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:46:42 -0800Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:46:42 -0800en-ushttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss60“It’s Over!”http://www.metafilter.com/148399/Its%2DOver
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/world/europe/amanda-knox-trial.html?_r=0">Amanda Knox Acquitted of 2007 Murder by Italy’s Highest Court <small>[New York Times]</small></a> <blockquote>"ROME — Italy’s highest court overturned the murder convictions of Amanda Knox and her Italian former boyfriend on Friday, throwing out all charges and ending a long-running courtroom drama over the killing of a British student in 2007.
The ruling in favor of Ms. Knox, a 27-year-old former exchange student from Seattle, and her co-defendant, Raffaele Sollecito, 31, was a shock in Italy, where the convictions had been expected to be upheld in the stabbing death of the British student, Meredith Kercher.</blockquote>
<small><a href="https://www.metafilter.com/108019/Amanda-Knox-convictions-overturned-to-be-freed-immediately">Previously</a>. <a href="https://www.metafilter.com/105065/The-Neverending-Nightmare-of-Amanda-Knox">Previously</a>. <a href="https://www.metafilter.com/87135/The-Murder-of-Meredith-Kercher-and-the-Trial-of-Amanda-Knox">Previously</a>. <a href="https://www.metafilter.com/66275/Foxy-Knoxy">Previously</a>.</small> tag:metafilter.com,2015:site.148399Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:46:42 -0800FizzSCOTUS Searchhttp://www.metafilter.com/147140/SCOTUS%2DSearch
Now in open beta, <a href="http://www.scotussearch.com/">SCOTUS Search</a> allows users to "search the text of 1,424,780 individual statements within 6,683 Supreme Court oral arguments." Based on the transcripts produced by <a href="http://www.oyez.org/">the Oyez Project</a> and the Supreme Court itself, the data underlying SCOTUS Search is published under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2015:site.147140Wed, 18 Feb 2015 07:38:43 -0800jedicusHurrell-Harring v. New Yorkhttp://www.metafilter.com/143818/Hurrell%2DHarring%2Dv%2DNew%2DYork
After seven years of litigation, the New York Civil Liberties Union has announced a <a href="http://www.nyclu.org/news/settlement-begins-historic-reformation-of-public-defense-new-york-state">settlement</a> in <em>Hurrell-Harring v. New York</em>, which will reform the way in which low income criminal defendants are represented in court. The class action lawsuit, which was due to go to trial this year, was filed on behalf of <a href="https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform-capital-punishment/project-liberty-takes-indigent-defense">Kimberly Hurrell-Harring and Jackie Winbrone.</a> Hurrell-Harring, a mother of two, plead guilty to a much more serious crime than the one she committed, and as a result, lost her job and her home. Winebrone's assigned counsel was missing in action, while she remained in jail for a crime she did not commit. Her husband died during the 52 days she was incarcerated.
Under the settlement, which will primarily focus on five counties ( Ontario, Onondaga (Syracuse), Schuyler, Suffolk and Washington ), the following reforms will be made:
<em>Ensuring that every poor criminal defendant will have a lawyer at the first court appearance, where bail often is set and pleas taken;
Requiring New York to hire sufficient lawyers, investigators and support staff to ensure that all poor criminal defendants have lawyers with the time and support necessary to vigorously represent the defendant;
Providing for the setting of caseload standards that will substantially limit the number of cases any lawyer can carry, thereby ensuring that poor criminal defendants get a real defense;
Requiring New York to spend $4 million over the next two years to increase attorney communications with poor criminal defendants, promote the use of investigators and experts, and improve the qualifications, training and supervision of lawyers representing indigent defendants;
Mandating the creation of eligibility standards for representation, thus allowing more New Yorkers to access public defense services;
Strengthening the Office of Indigent Legal Services as a state-level oversight entity tasked with ensuring the constitutional provision of public defense services and commits New York to provide the office with the resources it needs to develop plans and implement and monitor reforms mandated by the settlement; and
Providing that the plaintiffs will receive detailed reports allowing them to monitor compliance with the agreement and, if necessary, return to court to enforce it.</em>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTx68ZVrKfg">Public Defense in New York State</a> (25 minutes)
<a href="http://courts.state.ny.us/ip/indigentdefense-commission/IndigentDefenseCommission_report06.pdf">2006 Final Report</a> (pdf) of the <a href="http://nycourts.gov/ip/indigentdefense-commission/index.shtml">New York State Commission on the Future of Indigent Defense Services</a>
Class Action Complaint (<a href="http://www.nyclu.org/files/Amended%20Class%20Action%20Complaint.pdf">pdf</a>)
The settlement, which needs to be approved by the court, would run seven and a half years. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/22/nyregion/in-new-york-cuomo-pledges-more-aid-for-indigents-in-court.html?_r=0">It requires the state to guarantee that within 20 months, all poor defendants in the five counties have defense lawyers at their first appearance. Ten months later, public defender caseloads must not exceed levels set by the state.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.143818Wed, 22 Oct 2014 07:09:28 -0800roomthreeseventeenHer Majesty's High Court of Chivalry of England and Waleshttp://www.metafilter.com/138666/Her%2DMajestys%2DHigh%2DCourt%2Dof%2DChivalry%2Dof%2DEngland%2Dand%2DWales
In England coats of arms and other issues of heraldry are registered and administered by the <a href="http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/">College of Arms</a>. But what if some base scoundrel displays your family's ancient and noble coat of arms without the right to do so? You sue them in <a href="http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/resources/court-of-chivalry">the Court of Chivalry</a>. Founded by statute by Richard II in 1390 (<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=ZxM9AAAAIAAJ&lpg=PR20&ots=q8TExtwFQX&dq=%22Jurisdiction%20of%20constable%20and%20marshal%22&pg=PA285#v=onepage&q&f=false">13 Richard 2, St. 1, c. 2</a>), the Court of Chivalry was highly active through the High Middle Ages and English Renaissance. In those days it was also concerned with disputes over honor and dueling. <a href="http://www.court-of-chivalry.bham.ac.uk/">The Court of Chivalry 1634-1640</a> is a project that collects together 738 surviving cases from a narrow but prolific period in the court's history. It is also an excellent collection of mid-17th century gentlemanly insults. An example from the summary of <em><a href="http://arts-itsee.bham.ac.uk/AnaServer?chivalry+0+start.anv+case=573">St. Leger v. Acton</a></em>:<blockquote>St Leger complained that at the King’s Head Inn at Sutton Valence, Kent, at Shrovetide in 1639, Acton called him ‘base rascall, beggarly rascall, redcoate rogue’. When St Leger advised him to be quiet, Acton went out into the street and repeated the words ‘in the hearing of divers persons of good quality’. In his defence, Acton’s witnesses testified that the quarrel arose when St Leger kissed Acton’s mother, who was working in the kitchen. Acton’s response was to remark, ‘It is long of your mouth that you kiss her’, whereupon St Leger struck him with the back of his hand. Acton retorted, ‘How now you redcoate, what are you?’ and would have returned the blow had he not been restrained by his brother. </blockquote>Alas a scant 100 years later heraldry no longer had the same cachet as it once did. As William Blackstone put it in the 1760 edition of his famous <em>Commentaries on the Laws of England</em>, the court had "fallen into contempt and disuse."
Indeed, the Court of Chivalry doesn't have a website because it has only heard one case since 1737, <em><a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/220634443/Manchester-Corp-v-Manchester-Palace-of-Varieties-Ltd">Manchester Corporation v Manchester Palace of Varieties Ltd</a></em> [Scribd link] [1955] 1 All ER 387 (<a href="http://www.theheraldrysociety.com/articles/college_of_arms/the_last_case_heard_in_the_high_court_of_chivalry.htm">see here for a digest of the case</a>). In <em>Manchester Corp.</em> the court (i.e. the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Marshal">Earl Marshal</a>, or rather his Surrogate) had to first decide whether it even still existed. The court decided that it did indeed exist and ultimately went on to decide in favor of the plaintiff. tag:metafilter.com,2014:site.138666Sun, 27 Apr 2014 20:20:09 -0800jedicusMan creates own credit card, sues bank for not respecting its termshttp://www.metafilter.com/130824/Man%2Dcreates%2Down%2Dcredit%2Dcard%2Dsues%2Dbank%2Dfor%2Dnot%2Drespecting%2Dits%2Dterms
Banks usually reserve the right to change the rules or rates for credit cards they issue at any time, and the only notice given is buried in a long legal document. Russian <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/498048/20130809/russian-writes-credit-card-terms-dmitry-argarkov.htm">Dmitry Argarkov turned this on its head: After he received a junk-mail credit card offer, he modified the document to include terms ridiculously in his favor and sent it back.</a> The bank signed and certified it without looking at it, and sent him a credit card. Every time the bank failed to follow the terms they signed for (zero interest, no fees, unlimited credit), he would fine the bank 3 million rubles. He won a court case a few days ago where the decision was that the bank really did have to stick to no interest or fees.
But there's two parallel cases:
1. He's suing to get them to pay his fees.
2. They're suing him for fraud.
How's it going to end? tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.130824Sat, 10 Aug 2013 01:13:37 -0800SleeperRebuilding the American Juryhttp://www.metafilter.com/130417/Rebuilding%2Dthe%2DAmerican%2DJury
<a href="http://bostonreview.net/us/albert-dzur-twelve-absent-men">Twelve Absent Men: Rebuilding the American Jury.</a> "Juries hear only 4 percent of criminal trials in America. Their decline has fostered radical punitiveness, but reforms and novel institutions are breathing new life into the jury and civic participation more broadly." tag:metafilter.com,2013:site.130417Sun, 28 Jul 2013 14:00:14 -0800homunculus“I thought that modern penology has abandoned that rehabilitation thing”http://www.metafilter.com/121777/I%2Dthought%2Dthat%2Dmodern%2Dpenology%2Dhas%2Dabandoned%2Dthat%2Drehabilitation%2Dthing
<a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/169589/sentencing-criminals-norway-too-soft-or-are-we-too-harsh#">In Sentencing Criminals, Is Norway Too Soft? Or Are We Too Harsh?</a> <blockquote>It’s not very often the concept of restorative justice gets much play outside scholarly publications or reformist criminal justice circles, so first, some credit for Max Fisher at The Atlantic for giving it <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/a-different-justice-why-anders-breivik-only-got-21-years-for-killing-77-people/261532/">an earnest look last week</a>. In seeking to explain Norway’s seemingly measly twenty-one-year sentence for remorseless, mass-murdering white supremacist Anders Breivik—a sentence that is certain to be extended to last the rest of his life—Fisher casts a critical eye on the underlying philosophy that animates that country’s sentencing practices, finding it to be “radically different” from what we’re used to in the United States.</blockquote>
<a href="http://tpj.sagepub.com/content/85/2/127.short">The Effectiveness of Restorative Justice Practices: A Meta-Analysis</a> <a href="http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1989083,00.html">Inside The World's Most Humane Prison</a> at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/may/18/halden-most-humane-prison-in-world">Halden</a> (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/116091/we-dont-think-that-treating-them-hard-will-make-them-a-better-man">previously</a>), Norway, called by <b>The Economist</b> <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/07/norwegian-v-american-justice?zid=312&ah=da4ed4425e74339883d473adf5773841">Plush and Unusual Punishment</a> (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/92287/Norways-modern-prisons">Norway's Modern Prisons</a>, previously). Norway also has the famous <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/hardened-criminals-held-in-freedom-doing-time-on-norway-s-island-prison-a-744851-druck.html">prison island of Bast&#0248;y</a>.
<a href="http://blogs.loc.gov/law/2011/09/terror-trial-and-justice-in-norway/?doing_wp_cron=1352743538.8359670639038085937500">Terror, Trial and Justice in Norway</a> <blockquote>The contrast in these figures is quite striking, and despite the initial shock at what seems to be the near luxury of the most recently built prison, the statistics show that the Norwegian approach is relatively effective. However, we do need to bear in mind that, unlike the U.S., Norway is a small country, with a fairly homogeneous population.</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.theworld.org/2012/08/anders-breivik-norway-justice/">Anders Breivik and the Norwegian Justice System</a>
'<a href="http://www.restorativejustice.org/">Restorative justice</a> emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime. When victims, offenders and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results can be transformational.'
<a href="http://www.norlag.ge/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=37&lang=en">Brief Information About The Norwegian Legal System</a>, from NORLAG, Norwegian Mission of Rule of Law Advisers to Georgia. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.121777Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:54:39 -0800the man of twists and turnsBlame it on the beastshttp://www.metafilter.com/111317/Blame%2Dit%2Don%2Dthe%2Dbeasts
<a href="http://publicdomainreview.org/2011/03/27/bugs-and-beasts-before-the-law/">Bugs and Beasts Before the Law</a> - "Murderous pigs sent to the gallows, sparrows prosecuted for chattering in Church, a gang of thieving rats let off on a wholly technical acquittal – theoretical psychologist and author Nicholas Humphrey explores the strange world of medieval animal trials." More on the theme of barnyard scapegoats from the BBC podcast documentary: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00f8885/The_Documentary_Animals_on_Trial/">Animals on Trial</a>. tag:metafilter.com,2012:site.111317Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:24:28 -0800madamjujujiveSupreme court opinions successfully modeled as Facebook like buttonhttp://www.metafilter.com/109547/Supreme%2Dcourt%2Dopinions%2Dsuccessfully%2Dmodeled%2Das%2DFacebook%2Dlike%2Dbutton
<a href="http://www.icrea.cat/Web/ScientificForm.aspx?key=512">Roger Guimera Manrique</a> and <a href="http://scienceofteamscience.northwestern.edu/marta-sales-pardo">Marta Sales-Pardo</a> have <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0027188">shown</a> that <i><a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/248194/20111112/supreme-court-votes-predicted-study.htm">"U.S. Supreme Court justice votes are more predictable than one would expect from an ideal court composed of perfectly independent justices."</a></i> <i>"For our predictions, we use models and methods that have been developed to uncover hidden associations between actors in complex social networks. We show that these methods are more accurate at predicting justice's votes than forecasts made by legal experts and by algorithms that take into consideration the content of the cases."</i> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.109547Thu, 17 Nov 2011 07:35:07 -0800jeffburdgesAddressing the Justice Gaphttp://www.metafilter.com/106877/Addressing%2Dthe%2DJustice%2DGap
Several commentators are <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/24/opinion/addressing-the-justice-gap.html?_r=2&ref=opinion">advocating</a> the <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/08/25/should-states-deregulate-the-practice-of-law/">deregulation</a> of the <a href="http://www.openmarket.org/2011/08/22/deregulate-the-practice-of-law-to-promote-justice-and-create-jobs/">practice of law.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.106877Fri, 26 Aug 2011 08:09:13 -0800reenumThe Brain on Trial.http://www.metafilter.com/105574/The%2DBrain%2Don%2DTrial
<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/print/2011/07/the-brain-on-trial/8520/">The Brain on Trial.</a> Advances in brain science are calling into question the volition behind many criminal acts. A leading neuroscientist describes how the foundations of our criminal-justice system are beginning to crumble, and proposes a new way forward for law and order. <blockquote>"We may someday find that many types of bad behavior have a basic biological explanation—as has happened with schizophrenia, epilepsy, depression, and mania."</blockquote> <blockquote>[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Whitman">Charles Whitman</a>] requested in his suicide note that an autopsy be performed to determine if something had changed in his brain—because he suspected it had.
"I talked with a Doctor once for about two hours and tried to convey to him my fears that I felt [overcome by] overwhelming violent impulses. After one session I never saw the Doctor again, and since then I have been fighting my mental turmoil alone, and seemingly to no avail."
Whitman’s body was taken to the morgue, his skull was put under the bone saw, and the medical examiner lifted the brain from its vault. He discovered that Whitman’s brain harbored a tumor the diameter of a nickel. This tumor, called a glioblastoma, had blossomed from beneath a structure called the thalamus, impinged on the hypothalamus, and compressed a third region called the amygdala. The amygdala is involved in emotional regulation, especially of fear and aggression. . . . Whitman’s intuition about himself—that something in his brain was changing his behavior—was spot-on.</blockquote> tag:metafilter.com,2011:site.105574Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:43:18 -0800EidetekerLos Angeles Times - Sotomayor, Kagan - David G. Savagehttp://www.metafilter.com/98982/Los%2DAngeles%2DTimes%2DSotomayor%2DKagan%2DDavid%2DG%2DSavage
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-arguments-20101226,0,2050179.story">Sotomayor, Kagan shift Supreme Court debates to the left.</a> The liberal wing is no longer drowned out by Scalia and his fellow conservatives during oral arguments. tag:metafilter.com,2010:site.98982Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:26:54 -0800East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94"You can't sue God if you can't serve the papers on Him."http://www.metafilter.com/75701/You%2Dcant%2Dsue%2DGod%2Dif%2Dyou%2Dcant%2Dserve%2Dthe%2Dpapers%2Don%2DHim
The case against God brought by Ernie Chambers (<a href="http://www.metafilter.com/64796/God-its-time-we-had-a-talkcall-my-lawyer">previously on MeFi</a>) has been <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7673591.stm">thrown out</a>. <small>(title via <a href="http://www.mygtv.net/?p=11711">News Now Network</a>, although I added a capital H.)</small> tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.75701Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:03:21 -0800homelystarHeller v. D.C. Decidedhttp://www.metafilter.com/72819/Heller%2Dv%2DDC%2DDecided
<a href="http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=DC_v._Heller">Heller v. District of Columbia</a>, the U.S. Supreme Court's <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/court-agrees-to-rule-on-gun-case/">first actual interpretation</a> of the <a href="http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/html/amdt2.html">Second Amendment</a>, has just come down. In a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/26/scotus.guns/index.html">5-4 decision</a>, the Justices ruled D.C.'s comprehensive handgun ban to be unconstitutional. <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/07-290.pdf">Antonin Scalia writes for the majority.</a> tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.72819Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:46:50 -0800NavelgazerSCOTUS tells the ICJ to go hanghttp://www.metafilter.com/70399/SCOTUS%2Dtells%2Dthe%2DICJ%2Dto%2Dgo%2Dhang
On March 25, the Supreme Court <a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/06-984.pdf">held</a> (pdf) that rulings by the <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/">International Court of Justice</a> are essentially not binding upon state courts. This <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/25/scotus.texas/index.html">paves the way</a> for Texas to execute one Jose Ernesto Medellin for the <a href="http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/5658812.html">rape and murder</a> of two teenage girls. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals <a href="http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLOpinionInfo.asp?OpinionID=14711">judgment</a> of the <a href="http://www.cca.courts.state.tx.us/">ruled</a> (caution: disastrously formatted HTML) in 2006 that Medellin's objections, grounded on the fact that the Mexican consulate was not notified of his trial, were not sufficient to vacate his conviction, as he had been provided with a competent legal defense and none of his <i>constitutional</i> rights had been violated.
The ICJ <a href="http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/128/8188.pdf">held</a> (huge pdf) (<a href="http://www3.sympatico.ca/aiwarren/avena.html">summary</a>) that the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vienna_Convention_on_the_Law_of_Treaties">Vienna Convention</a> creates individually enforceable rights, that Medellin's rights had been violated, and that Texas should order a new trial. President Bush, surprising everyone, <a href="">ordered</a> Texas to comply.
The Supreme Court, which voted 6-3 to affirm the Texas court, held 1) that judgments of the ICJ are not directly enforceable as domestic law, and 2) the President cannot require states to effectuate the judgments of foreign courts.
---
The Court's 2005 <a href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04pdf/04-5928.pdf">opinion</a> (pdf) withdrawing certiorari as improvidently granted.
Commentary:
Volokh: (<a href="http://volokh.com/posts/1206463133.shtml">1</a>, <a href="http://volokh.com/posts/1206501266.shtml">2</a>)
OpinioJuris: (<a href="http://www.opiniojuris.org/posts/1207000197.shtml">1</a>, <a href="http://www.opiniojuris.org/posts/1206467533.shtml">2</a>)
And! <a href="http://www.opiniojuris.org/posts/1206800366.shtml">discussion questions</a>! tag:metafilter.com,2008:site.70399Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:31:30 -0800valkyryn"And I am even supposed to love our enemies.”http://www.metafilter.com/65673/And%2DI%2Dam%2Deven%2Dsupposed%2Dto%2Dlove%2Dour%2Denemies
<a href="http://www.nyclu.org/node/1419">"Killing others is not loving them.”</a> --meet US Army Captain Peter D. Brown, just granted Conscientious Objector status due to his religious beliefs and honorably discharged after first being denied and taking them to court---only
<a href="http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=62545">224 applicants were approved for it during 02-06,</a> out of 2.3 million serving. <i>... While deployed in Iraq for more than a year, Brown applied for discharge from the Army as a conscientious objector. Though the Army-appointed Chaplain and Investigating Officer designated to investigate Brown’s conscientious objector application concluded that he was sincere and recommended that he be honorably discharged, the Army disagreed and his request was denied. In July 2007, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area intervened on Brown’s behalf and asked a federal court in Washington, DC to order the honorable discharge. Before the court acted, the Army reconsidered the issue, this time granting Brown’s request. ...</i>
from the Medill link: <i>... But some veterans who oppose the war in Iraq, say the actual numbers of conscientious objectors has been underreported due to the difficult application process and because peer pressure within a military unit discourages conscientious objectors.
The Government Accountability Office report found that from 2002 to 2006 the active and reserve components of all the military reported processing 425 applications for conscientious objectors of approximately 2.3 million current service members.
Of the 425 applications, 224 (53 percent) were approved,188 (44 percent) were denied and 13 (3 percent) were pending, according to the GA0, an arm of Congress.
...</i> tag:metafilter.com,2007:site.65673Thu, 18 Oct 2007 16:20:41 -0800amberglowAfter the operation it was confirmed...http://www.metafilter.com/54267/After%2Dthe%2Doperation%2Dit%2Dwas%2Dconfirmed
<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/26/newsid_3039000/3039322.stm">Sherri Finkbine</a> --as reported by BBC News, on this day in 1962 (video clip too)--her travails and travels, the law, publicity, and what happened afterwards. (more here from <a href="http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewPrint&articleId=9362">American Prospect</a> in 05: <i>...A Gallup Poll taken that year showed that the majority of Americans supported Finkbine, and her case was a turning point ...</i>) tag:metafilter.com,2006:site.54267Sat, 26 Aug 2006 14:46:29 -0800amberglowABA Gives Wallace 'Not Qualified' Rating, Stiffs Spectorhttp://www.metafilter.com/53308/ABA%2DGives%2DWallace%2DNot%2DQualified%2DRating%2DStiffs%2DSpector
Looks like the battle over Bush's judicial nominations may be back on. In February, Bush <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/judicialnominees/wallace.html">nominated</a> <a href="http://www.phelpsdunbar.com/pages/profile.asp?id=271">Michael B. Wallace</a> to a seat on the Fifth Circuit. Not long after, the <a href="http://www.abanet.org/scfedjud/" title="Link currently not working, but I assume it will be back soon.">ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary</a>, which evaluates the professional qualifications of all nominees for the federal bench, <a href="http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060511/NEWS/605110384/1001/news">gave Wallace a 'not qualified' rating</a>. With that rating, Wallace joins company with other <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/25/opinion/25Lott.html?ex=1295845200&en=de11ac054b3ee85b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">similarly unqualified</a> judicial nominees such Richard Posner, Frank Easterbrook, and J. Harvie Wilkinson III. <small>[more inside]</small> tag:metafilter.com,2006:site.53308Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:33:42 -0800monju_bosatsu"What if a person felt their religious view was that African Americans shouldn't mingle with Caucasians, or that women shouldn't work?"http://www.metafilter.com/50797/What%2Dif%2Da%2Dperson%2Dfelt%2Dtheir%2Dreligious%2Dview%2Dwas%2Dthat%2DAfrican%2DAmericans%2Dshouldnt%2Dmingle%2Dwith%2DCaucasians%2Dor%2Dthat%2Dwomen%2Dshouldnt%2Dwork
<a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-christians10apr10,0,6204444.story?coll=la-story"><i>...a growing campaign to force public schools, state colleges and private workplaces to eliminate policies protecting gays and lesbians from harassment.</a> ...Christian activist Gregory S. Baylor responds to such criticism angrily. He says he supports policies that protect people from discrimination based on race and gender. But he draws a distinction that infuriates gay rights activists when he argues that sexual orientation is different — a lifestyle choice, not an inborn trait.
By equating homosexuality with race, Baylor said, tolerance policies put conservative evangelicals in the same category as racists. ...
"Think how marginalized racists are," said Baylor, who directs the Christian Legal Society's Center for Law and Religious Freedom. "If we don't address this now, it will only get worse."</i> Should Christians be able to sue for the right to not tolerate or abide by anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies meant to apply to all? Should they still be able to get school activity funding? tag:metafilter.com,2006:site.50797Mon, 10 Apr 2006 17:10:56 -0800amberglowPlease don’t let the cops in the house while I’m at the store.http://www.metafilter.com/50304/Please%2Ddont%2Dlet%2Dthe%2Dcops%2Din%2Dthe%2Dhouse%2Dwhile%2DIm%2Dat%2Dthe%2Dstore
<a href="http://www.scotusblog.com/movabletype/archives/2006/03/court_limits_se.html ">Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court held</a> in a <a href="http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-1067.pdf">5-3 decision</a> (.pdf) that police may not search a home if any inhabitant of the home is present and objects to the search, even if another inhabitant consents. The Court drew what it acknowledged is a “fine line” – if a co-inhabitant is at the door and objects, the police can’t enter; but if the co-inhabitant is somewhere else – even in a nearby police car – and has no opportunity to object, then police don’t need his or her consent. Chief Justice Roberts issued his first written dissent, blasting the majority’s “random” and “arbitrary” rule and suggesting that the ability of police to respond to domestic violence threats could be compromised. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/23/politics/23scotus.html?ex=1300770000&en=f76908d9d13520ca&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss">zingers in the footnotes </a> may reveal “strains behind the surface placidity and collegiality of the young Roberts court.” tag:metafilter.com,2006:site.50304Thu, 23 Mar 2006 10:00:15 -0800brain_drainSchiavo--life and death?http://www.metafilter.com/40549/Schiavolife%2Dand%2Ddeath
<a href="http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html">An Objective Legal Look (and more) on Schiavo--</a> <i>As a Florida law blogger, I have created this page to help people understand the legal circumstances surrounding the Terri Schiavo saga. In my view, there continues to be a need for an objective look at the matter. There is an unbelievable amount of misinformation being circulated.</i>
Links to all court decisions, timelines, <a href="http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/infopage.html#qanda">questions and answers</a> (some shocking)...you name it. All the info available on this tragic situation. tag:metafilter.com,2005:site.40549Sat, 19 Mar 2005 07:22:41 -0800amberglowCruel and Unusual - The End Of The Eighth Amendmenthttp://www.metafilter.com/36834/Cruel%2Dand%2DUnusual%2DThe%2DEnd%2DOf%2DThe%2DEighth%2DAmendment
<a href="http://bostonreview.net/BR29.5/dayan.html" title="Describing the standard interrogation techniques for Iraqis detained at Abu Ghraib, Mr. Womack, the lawyer for Specialist Charles A. Graner, said ''a certain amount of violence was to be expected,'' adding, ''Striking doesn’t mean a lot. . . . Breaking a rib or bone—THAT would be excessive.'' Mr. Volzer, the lawyer for Specialist Megan M. Ambuhl, juggled his terms, arguing that it was intimidation, not torture: ''I wouldn’t term it abuse.'' Mr. Bergrin, the lawyer for Sergeant Javal S. Davis, argued that the prisoner was not harmed when Davis stomped on his fingers. ''He may have stepped on the hands, but there was no stomping, no broken bones.''">Cruel and Unusual - The End Of The Eighth Amendment</a><br><small>It might seem at first that the rules for the treatment of Iraqi prisoners were founded on standards of political legitimacy suited to war or emergencies; based on what Carl Schmitt called the urgency of the ''exception,'' they were meant to remain secret as necessary ''war measures'' and to be exempt from traditional legal ideals and the courts associated with them. But the ominous discretionary powers used to justify this conduct are entirely familiar to those who follow the everyday treatment of prisoners in the United States—not only their treatment by prison guards but their treatment by the courts in sentencing, corrections, and prisoners' rights. The torture memoranda, as unprecedented as they appear in presenting ''legal doctrines . . . that could render specific conduct, otherwise criminal, not unlawful,'' refer to U.S. prison cases in the last 30 years that have turned on the legal meaning of the Eighth Amendment’s language prohibiting ''cruel and unusual punishment.'' What is the history of this phrase? How has it been interpreted? And how has its content been so eviscerated?</small> tag:metafilter.com,2004:site.36834Mon, 08 Nov 2004 21:42:08 -0800y2karlSo This is Justice?http://www.metafilter.com/30893/So%2DThis%2Dis%2DJustice
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39487-2004Jan22.html?nav=hptop_tb">Janklow Gets 100 Days for Manslaughter</a> <br>
A career of willful and flagrant disregard for traffic laws and other people's safety that ended in the death of a motorcyclist.
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Must be nice to be pals with the president. Although I'm sure that had nothing to do with his slap-on-the-wrist sentence. I was just saying that it must be nice to be pals with the president. tag:metafilter.com,2004:site.30893Thu, 22 Jan 2004 15:35:59 -0800fenriqDespite American efforts, world criminal court is bornhttp://www.metafilter.com/24219/Despite%2DAmerican%2Defforts%2Dworld%2Dcriminal%2Dcourt%2Dis%2Dborn
<a href="http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/generic.cgi?template=articleprint.tmplh&amp;ArticleId=89441">Despite American efforts, world criminal court is born</a> With China, Russia, and the United States refusing to go along with this international court, just how effective can it become? And will the refusal of these major nations to join in add the what now appears the disintegration of global attempts at moderating international affairs? tag:metafilter.com,2003:site.24219Tue, 11 Mar 2003 18:46:26 -0800Postroadwww.constitutionalsluts.com?http://www.metafilter.com/24115/wwwconstitutionalslutscom
<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/07/online.porn.ap/index.html">I believe this is a blow for the First Amendment.</a> Today, the <a href="http://www.ca3.uscourts.gov/">3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals</a> struck down the <a href="http://www.epic.org/free_speech/censorship/copa.html">Child Online Protection Act</a>. Also, read <a href="http://www.copacommission.org/report/">COPA's report</a> online. In related news, the Supreme Court recently <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/05/scotus.library.porn/index.html">heard oral arguments </a>regarding a law which requires "filters" to be placed on public library computers. Can any of these laws be written to satisfy constitutional requirements? <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/02/19/findlaw.analysis.library.filters/index.html#Hilden">Julie Hilden</a> of <a href="http://www.findlaw.com/">Findlaw.con </a> has already <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/02/19/findlaw.analysis.library.filters/index.html">contemplated </a>this issue. Will the U.S. <a href="http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/jun/02061304.html">follow Canada's lead </a> by enacting similar anti-porn laws? Despite support in the U.S. for such laws, the Indianapolis model pornography law was struck down as unconstitutional nearly ten years ago. It seems even Canada is rejecting the <a href="http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/dworkin/OrdinanceCanada.html">Dworkin/MacKinnon </a>point of view. Is there any middle ground in this showdown of liberty and equality? Which value should prevail? Are these values really at odds with each other? tag:metafilter.com,2003:site.24115Fri, 07 Mar 2003 08:07:55 -0800Bag Man